The
year started with exhibiting in the Factory49 Group Print Show 1 February - 10
February.

The
piece titled Manifesto was a response to the way language and information are
being used to promulgate ideas that run counter to facts, science and history.
As if all ideas are contestable in a scrabble-like game.

Artist: Pia Larsen

Title: Manifesto

Year: 2018

Materials: printmedia + paper

Dimensions: 177cm H x 85cm W x 2.5cm D

I
also exhibited in the Factory49 Group Sculpture Show, 1 March - 10 March that
was part of Art Month in Sydney.

The work titled 'Play Well' was created using Lego in an open-ended exploration of form, space and colour.

Artist: Pia Larsen

Title: Play Well

Year: 2017

Materials: Lego

Dimensions: 48cm x 48cm x 60cm H

I
will also be exhibiting in the upcoming Factory49 Group Drawing Show 29 March -
7 April.

In
May I will be attending a Residency at the Art Vault in Mildura with fellow
artist Janet Parker-Smith.

In
September I will be exhibiting in Paper Contemporary, part of the Sydney
Contemporary Art Fair, 13 September - 16 September, Carriageworks, Sydney.
I am co-director with Janet Parker-Smith for Unlimited Sydney, a group of
artists' that includes Anthony Bartok, Jo Lankester and Angela Hayson. The
Paper Contemporary Curator is Akky van Ogtrop.

The year’s
events also included the Sydney and Melbourne launch of ‘Gerald Lewers
Sculptor’, a book by the late Professor Peter Pinson about my maternal
grandfather Australian Sculptor Gerald Lewers, husband to Abstract Expressionist artist Margo Lewers. The family home was given to Penrith Council by their daughters, Jeweller Darani Lewers and Printmaker/Architect Tanya Crothers and is now the Penrith Regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest.

‘The Motion Room’, September 30 – November 19, 2017was launched at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
completing Chapter 1 of the ‘What We Know’ Project. The exhibition showcased stories from the most diverse part of greater
Sydney, formulated through printmedia about everyday life in Western Sydney
with its many cultures, perspectives and histories.An article I wrote about the project
to accompany the ‘The Motion Room’ Exhibition is available on: http://imprint.org.au/posts

Jane Stratton (Creative
Director, Think + DO Tank Foundation) and I worked together during the
workshops and subsequent exhibition at CPAC; our vision to involve
more people over time and expand the project as a creative voice for the
community in Western Sydney. The project was assisted by the Australian
Government, through the Australia Council for the Arts its arts funding and advisory
body. Jane Stratton developed the original concept as one of a series of
ongoing projects that investigate, support and operate as a means to increase
community control over everyday life in Green Valley, Liverpool and central
Fairfield.

The work I created
for the ‘What We Know’ Residency, titled ‘Glow’.

Artist: Pia
Larsen

Title: Glow

Dimensions:
56 x 76cm

Images from the printmedia workshops held at the Liverpool Women’s Resource Centre and Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, 2016 – 17.

‘Their Loss is Our Loss’ was a month-long exhibition timed to coincide with ANZAC Day, a National Day to commemorate sacrifice. It was specifically installed in SLOT because of its proximity to Redfern and Redfern's long association with Indigenous people and their history in Sydney.

In this work an Indigenous Honour Roll, (created for the exhibition, ‘The Coloured Digger II’, at the Damien Minton Gallery in Redfern) formed part of something immense in scope, that reaches far back in time and celebrates Indigenous people and their culture in Australia today.

The project was supported by Tony Twigg, Director of SLOT and Anie Nheu curator for the 2017 SLOT exhibition program and received the Eckersley’s Art & Craft Prize, through the NSW Artist’s Grant program, NAVA/Arts NSW.

I was granted permission to use the colours of the Australian Aboriginal Flag by Pastor Ray Minniecon, (Redfern ANZAC Day march Coordinator), when I first conceived of an ‘Indigenous Poppy’ for the exhibition at the Damien Minton Gallery.

In November I co-curated, with Charles Cooper, and exhibited in ‘Flag Wavering', at SLOT space, Alexandria, to coincide with the outcome of the US presidential election on November the 8th. The show examined the American flag as a visual and historic symbol. I exhibited three carton works from my US residency in 2015, along with new carton and bottle works in paper-pulp, gouache and watercolour applied with stencilling and brush.

What We Know (The Motion Room)

A Printmaking enquiry into the skills of local people in 2168

In 1766, Denis Diderot and his fellow "Encyclopedistes" made a beautiful account of contemporary handicrafts in France. The Encyclopedia: A Description of the Arts and Trades used printmaking to showcase the skills of artisans and manufacturers throughout the regions of France.

In 2016, 250 years after the Encyclopedia was published, THE MOTION ROOM artist in residence, Pia Larsen will create an Encyclopedi of 2168 with local residents of the 2168 Postcode Area, recording their skills and celebrating their know-how for perpetuity.

Supporters: This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

The residency began with print workshops at the Liverpool Women's Resource Centre. The final printing to be undertaken at Sydney College of the Arts and the work exhibited at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in 2017. I was made a Research Affiliate to coordinate and complete the project at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.

In May a printmedia work titled ‘Welcome US’ was selected for the Print Council of Australia Print Commission Program by Roger Butler, Senior Curator, Australian Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Australia and John Loane, Master Printer and artist, Viridian Press.

The image reconfigured two of the sculptural carton works from my

residency at the WSW in New York. The title, ‘Welcome US’ is conferred as

In October - November 2015 I undertook an artist’s residency at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York creating three bodies of work. Two in sculpture, utilising papermaking and found objects, and the third, images in printmedia.